A State of Mercy
by Namretsaot
Summary: Two years after the end of the Angel War, the Evangelions are called back into action to combat an extraterrestrial threat drawn to Earth by the aborted Third Impact. Even aided by new allies, can the original pilots handle this new threat, or will Mankind crumple before the invading Harvesters? Asuka/OC, Ibuki/OC. Lots of WAFF and war. Weekly updates.
1. Chapter 1

**A State of Mercy**

**Chapter 1: Clubs, Spears, and Progressive Knives**

Simon was the second person into the kitchen in the morning, the first being the only other Wolf pilot in the house.

"Morning," he said in a tone with about as much enthusiasm as he could muster, which is to say practically none.

Sean only grunted in agreement from his position at the table. Simon pulled a box of leftover pizza out of the refrigerator that wasn't reserved for an intelligent bird and shoved two pieces in the microwave for thirty seconds.

"That's disgusting," Asuka said as she entered the room apparently to tired to scream about it this early in the morning.

"Yeah? Well, I'm not risking a tapeworm by eating Shinji's idea of cooking."

Sean silently agreed. The only reason he wasn't eating the leftovers was because he found the government breakfasts served at the lunchroom in SS to taste better. The red-haired girl sat down at the table next to Sean and leaned her head on his shoulder. Simon glared at them from where he leaned against the counter top.

"The legal age of consent in Nevada is-"

"16. Yeah, but its still fucking disgusting," Simon finished his friend's often-repeated statement for him. Asuka mearly giggled as she nuzzled up against her boyfreind, feeling his warmth.

Simon finished his pizza and pulled his pilot jacket on. "Just be careful to use protection, you kids."

Asuka extended her middle finger at Simon's back as he exited the house and went to work. About a minute later, they heard his Delorian pull out of the driveway across the early morning desert.

"Gott he's a swinehunt!" Asuka fumed.

"Come on now, he's not that bad," Misato Katsuragi said as she entered the kitchen.

"He can a bit much sometimes, but he's pulled each one of our asses out of the fire. So he's kind of got the right to be that way," Sean said, trying to strike a delicate ground between both of the very opinionated women.

When Shinji entered the kitchen he immediately saw the conflict brewing and looked for a quick out.

"Uh, do you guys really need me to cook breakfast?" he asked.

Before Asuka could jump his ass and make him cook, Misato dismissed him.

"No, that's okay. Run along to school now," she said with what would be a grin if the Yebicu beer can weren't obscuring the view of her mouth.

Sean bolted up from his seat, ready to go to work. "I've got to go to work. Have fun at school," he said to Asuka.

She leaped up from her chair and into his arms, planting a very emotionally charged kiss on his lips. After twenty seconds he released her, grudgingly, with a smile.

"I've got to go," he said and made a slight bow as he left the house.

If Simon had been there the conforming to Japanese customs would have made him cringe, if not fling him into a seizure. Sean got in his car and started the engine. Then he headed off in the direction of SS, the concrete/steel buildings around him casting shadows across the road in the early morning light.

((()))

Deep beneath the Nevada desert was Substation Six, a sprawling government installation dedicated to the halting of the Harvesters. The Harvesters are a race of alien beings that began attacking Earth shortly after the last Angel attack. Each Harvester attack has been in this same place: western Nevada.

The UN in conjunction with the US government constructed SS and the city above it to intercept and eliminate the Harvesters one attack at a time. Fresh out of a war with other giant attackers, three Evangelion units were sent to the US along with the entire Tokyo 3 command crew, save Commander Ikari who was fired for taking certain…liberties with the first child.

But the star of the show was the American scientists' form of Evangelion. Called Wolves, these new versions sported jump jets, fusion engines, new sensors, new weapons, a stronger AT Field, and better armor. They were what the Japanese scientists had been afraid to make their Evas: atomic fighting machines.

There were only two Wolves: Unit 01 being called Cerebrus and Unit 02 being called Greymarch. Right now, Simon was sitting inside Greymarch's entry plug minus the LCL. He was cleaning the displays with a rag. A holographic window appeared on one of the displays showing Misato's face.

"Hmm?" he asked absentmindedly, still working the rag.

"Uh, we may have a situation," she said.

"A situation? Like get your plug suit on Simon, situation?" he asked, reaching for the LCL injection handle.

"Not quite yet, though in a few minutes you'll need to. Target is inbound through the atmosphere right now in a cocoon."

"Great. Any other information I should know?"

"Besides it's for sure a Harvester, no. Our pilots have been pulled from school and are ready to back both you guys up. When we find Sean of course," she said.

"Check Asuka's entry plug," he muttered, more to himself then Misato. Misato gave a nervous grin, "We've already checked there."

She signed off and Simon started undressing and entering his plug suit. He tossed his uniform into a duffel bag and hurled it onto the umbilical bridge for when he got back. The plug closed around him and he pulled the LCL injection handle. The familiar orange liquid squirted into the plug and filled his lungs.

Automatically, the plug screwed into the Wolf's upper neck and sent a surge of color patterns flashing up around where Simon sat, the LCL seemingly disappearing into nothingness. The words Wolf Evangelion Unit 02 Active appeared on the display in front of him. He felt the Wolf's simplistic conscious pull at the edge of his mind.

He gave it a mental bitch slap, making it his own. The persona retreated back to the core. Simon took a breath full of LCL.

"Get me to a launch pad," he ordered.

Three seconds later the entire setup of restraints, power cords and walkways surrounding the Wolf called Greymarch had been removed and it was being moved to launch pad twelve. Airlocks moved out of the way above the ready to launch Greymarch. Misato's voice filtered in over the radio.

"When you're ready Simon," she said.

Simon closed his eyes.

Combat.

Swiftness.

Cover.

Aim.

Load.

Shoot.

Synchronization.

Ejaculation.

"What the hell!?" Simon shouted out loud.

"What's happening? Is it a sync problem?" Misato asked over the radio.

"No its not a sync problem," he replied.

The image of a female head moving back and forth on his penis flooded into his mind. The woman looked up but her face was blurred. Simon instinctively grabbed his head with one hand and shook the image away.

"What is it Simon?" Misato asked.

"Nothing, launch me."

((()))

Greymarch stood at the center of the Intercept City holding an assault rifle loosely under one arm. The sky was cloudless and via magnification Simon could clearly see the Harvester jettison its cocoon and begin a free fall right toward him.

"Misato, analysis please," he said.

Almost immediately a three dimensional hologram of the target appeared in front of Simon. The normal humanoid stature was present and complete with the biotic implants that each Harvester normally had. Armor plates covered everywhere but the joints and the right hand had been traded in for a ball shaped club.

"Looks like another melee variant," Misato mused.

"It would seem so."

Melee variants were usually faster then their ranged counterparts to make up for the lack of having any upper hand on the opponent. Simon snapped his assault rifle up to his shoulder and locked on to the target. The reticule turned green and Simon squeezed off a long burst. Rounds clanged against the Harvester's chest plate.

The assault rifle's bolt clacked open. Without thinking Simon yanked out the clip and tossed it to one side. The thirty-ton empty box crushed a parked truck and dented the front of a hardware store as it came into contact with Earth. Simon grabbed another clip out of the nearest ammo dispenser and reloaded his weapon.

By the time he was finished, the Harvester had touched down three blocks to his left. He turned and fired from the hip. The target dogged right and he chased it with a stream of bullets that blew chunks out of buildings and ripped billboards into ribbons. A few rounds connected with the target's shoulder and left side, drawing little blood and hydraulic fluids.

Simon saw the target approaching him to quickly too allow him time to reload again. So he hurled the rifle at his attacker and drew his prog knife from its place on his thigh. The target stumbled a bit when the rifle hit it and gave Simon just the time he needed to engage his jump jets. The two combatants collided and fell into a thirty-story office building.

Glass shattered and steel groaned under the pressure the two giants forced on the structure. Simon rammed his knife deep into the Harvester's unprotected neck and sliced laterally, drawing a large volume of blood that ran across Greymarch's hand. The Harvester smashed its club into the side of Simon's head.

Inside the cockpit, Simon struggled to force pain from his mind and focus on the job at hand. The Harvester had gotten up and was about to club him again. From where he lay on his back, Simon could see Cerebrus reach the top of a lift behind the Harvester, a spear in hand.

"Shank it!" Simon shouted.

Greymarch kicked the Harvester in the chest, driving the creature backward onto Cerebrus' spear. The spear exploded out the target's chest in a geyser of blood. Simon stood up and recovered his dropped prog knife. Then the target did something no one expected: it spun its head around to face Sean.

The target's arms did the same kind of inversion technique so its upper half was now, more or less, facing Cerebrus. This of course allowed it to slam its club into Sean's temple. Cerebrus stumbled and fell to the ground as its pilot nearly lost consciousness. The Harvester pulled out the spear that had entered it and raised it above its head.

Asuka screamed over the radio. "Get up! Get up now!"

Greymarch drove its prog knife through the Harvester's skin, muscle and neck vertebrae. Simon looped his arm around the targets waist to prevent it from crashing down on top of Cerebrus as its head fell to the pavement with a thud and a vibration that sent manhole covers flying. He released the body with a slight nudge to make it fall to the right.

Sean shook his head to clear the blur out of his vision. He could hear Misato over the radio.

"Simon, help Sean get up and return to the Cage. I'll meet you down there."

((()))

Misato saw the entry plug unscrew itself from Greymarch and watched as Simon climbed out of it. He managed to climb down to the umbilical bridge before vomiting the LCL out of his lungs. She'd seen pilots do this many times and could tell that Simon was in a hurry to finish the process.

"Simon, don't do this," she cautioned.

The former SEAL ignored her as he stormed to Cerebrus' Cage. She cursed in Japanese and jogged after him. The door opened to reveal Sean on his knees in the center of the umbilical bridge, just recovering from vomiting the LCL. Simon grabbed his fellow Wolf pilot by the collar of his plug suit and yanked him up off the floor.

"Where the hell were you?" Simon spat at him, his voice a harsh whisper.

"I was in the break room," Sean said.

"Are you fucking deaf? Alarms tend to be pretty loud when there's an attack," Simon countered. When he didn't respond, Simon threw him back onto the deck.

"Jesus Simon! He's injured!" Misato shouted.

Simon spun around to face her. "I got hit too, you know," he hissed and stormed back to get out of his plug suit.

Misato stood in silence and watched Sean stand up, the whack to his head finally wearing off. A moment later, the door opened and Asuka came running in. She ran into Sean and started kissing him.

"You're not hurt are you?" she asked, pushing him out to arm length. Checking his body for any bruises or other signs of injuries.

"No, I'll be fine," he told her with a smile.

She started crying and hugged him again. He ran a hand through her red hair and nuzzled her neck. He glared past Asuka to Misato with a 'don't tell her' look.

Misato nodded and walked back to the command center.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**


	2. Chapter 2

**A State of Mercy**

**Chapter 2: The Sleeping Mind**

"New sync tests this morning," Misato reminded the pilots as they ate breakfast.

No one but Shinji bothered to respond. "Yes ma'am," he said from his position at the stove.

Asuka stopped the process of giving Sean a hickey to jump Shinji's ass.

"Would you stop calling her ma'am?" she yelled.

"Uh, I'm sorry," he replied in his usual sheepish tone.

Asuka opened her mouth to scream and everyone silently thanked God that Sean chose that moment to kiss her. Simon entered the kitchen, smacked Shinji upside the head and walked out the front door without stopping for food.

"He's an ass," Shinji said, rubbing his head.

"He does that everyday. At some point wouldn't you think to duck?" Kensuke asked.

"He'd just adjust his aim and smack me while I was on the ground. So what's the point?" Shinji said.

"He's right Kensuke. By the way, we'll be running tests on you today as well," said Misato.

Kensuke grinned. As a spare pilot in the event of an injury or death of another pilot, Kensuke rarely had the opportunity to receive any testing at all.

"I'll be there bright and early, Ma'am!"

Asuka groaned.

((()))

Later that day, all six pilots stood in semi-transparent booths naked.

"Okay, walk across the room and enter your entry plugs. And for God's sake don't contaminate each other," Misato announced over the intercom.

Simon looked across the booths at Sean, a shit-eating grin adorning his face. "She means don't start screwing in the middle of the corridor," he nudged Kensuke, who whipped out his camera.

Sean looked over at the security camera. "We won't do any thing here, but I can't promise that nothing happened last night."

In the observation room, Maya Ibuki's face turned red. Not so much due to the open conversation between pilots, but due to the information she'd gathered on the pilots' bodily scans. In Asuka's…uh…happy place was a buildup of outside DNA, specifically the DNA of Wolf Unit 01's pilot.

"Ma'am, you might want to take a look at this," Ibuki said to Misato.

The purple haired colonel leaned over Maya's shoulder to see the display. Her eyebrows shot up when Maya pointed out the discovery.

"Asuka! Don't you ever clean yourself?" she asked over the intercom to the entrance corridor. "Well, this morning I had someone else do it," Asuka cooed.

Misato felt her head begin to hurt. Ibuki muttered something about sex fiends as she opened the booth doors.

"Okay, get in your plugs," Misato forced herself to say. She turned to Hyuga. "Get me something for my head. Please." She motioned him off with one hand.

The pilots climbed into their plugs and where inserted into their respective machines.

"Okay, this is where you'll be sleeping tonight," Misato announced once they were in their plugs.

Simon for one immediately severed his radio link with EVA Unit 02 to preserve his eardrums and instead only heard Misato's end of the conversation.

"No you can't put two people in one entry plug! Because it would ruin the test. It's to monitor the EVA or Wolf's effect on the human brain during sleep. I don't care if it'll throw your routine out of whack! Well exercise some self control for God's sake! Even I'm not that bad!"

After Misato and Asuka had stopped fighting, basic harmonics tests were run. For the next four hours, the rest of the pilots listened to Sean and Asuka talk, mostly about each other's private parts. At some point Shinji denied everyone else any visual feed to his entry plug. Graciously, everyone else turned off his or her audio feed to him for the three minutes he was offline. When he came back on there was some stringy white substance floating around inside his cockpit.

By eleven o'clock, everyone was completely asleep.

((()))

The jungle was quiet, or as quiet as a living breathing jungle could ever get. At least no guns were going off at the moment. That was just how sergeant Kirby wanted it: calm. The woman in his arms trembled at his touch, goosebumps forming on her arms and spreading across her body. She moaned softly when he pushed his fingers gently deeper into her baby chute.

This was the dream that Simon had so desperately wanted to avoid, yet he was enjoying the memory all the same. Her name was Lao, he remembered, a contact he'd been working with in the jungles of communist China for about a month now. Throughout that time they'd grown close. So close, in fact, that they'd made plans for her to come back to the states with him when this was all over.

Damn he hated this dream.

Eventually she climaxed and she kissed him before tugging at his belt. Once it was loose, she unzipped his fly and pulled him out and started using the talented tongue he'd fallen in love with during the past month. The thing that made this assignment bearable. He saw her head bobbing up and down and let go of himself. She let it all collect and then snowballed him with it.

The best part was, he didn't care and let her do it. That was how much different he felt about her then any other girl he'd ever been with.

"How was that?" she asked him with a grin on her face once she'd finished kissing him.

"It was great," he replied, obviously out of breath.

"Good. I'll go scout ahead," she said and stood up, AK-47 in hand.

Simon reached for his M-16 and heard the sniper shot that had haunted him ever since that mission. Lao fell to the ground, blood fountaining out of her chest. Despite himself, Simon's training kicked in and he reflexively tracked the direction of the shot. He identified the tree and let loose a torrent of fire from his M-16. He saw the sniper fall and turned to check on Lao.

Her pulse was gone.

Fuck this dream.

((()))

Simon forced his eyes open and with a burning sensation he saw the LCL entry plug around him. He hadn't been awake for more then two seconds before Misato's voice crackled in over the radio.

"Oh, your awake. Bad dream?" she asked.

Simon shook his head. "Don't your computer readouts tell you that already?" he countered.

"Just making small talk Simon. You don't have to bite my damn head off," she muttered.

"Yea well, whatever. Can I get out of the plug now?" he asked.

"Go ahead, but be sure to come up to the observation room after you get cleaned up."

Simon turned off his Wolf and exited the plug. He threw up all over the umbilical bridge and then remembered that he was totally naked. After getting his B class uniform on he trotted up to the observation room. What he found upon opening the door was both strange and interesting at the same time.

"What the hell is all this?"

Misato turned and Simon watched the man holding a camera over his shoulder turn with her, careful to keep her slim figure in frame. "Joe Robertson meet Simon Kirby, pilot of Wolf number two AKA Greymarch. Simon, this is Joe. He will be documenting you and the rest of the pilot's lives for the remainder of the war."

"For a TV show or what?" Simon asked, his tone masking that he really was interested. Misato nodded.

"A&E channel I believe," she said.

Joe nodded and Simon made the assumption that he didn't talk much, which was good, since he had just formulated plans for this show. "What's this show called?" he asked, apparently nonchalant about it.

Misato, again, answered for the near mute Joe. "Its called Evas 'R Us. Since you're already up would you like to show them around the house?"

The former SEAL nodded and motioned for Joe the Camera Guy to follow him out to his Delorian.

On the ride home, Simon got a taste of just what Joe does talk about: questions. Apparently part of having a show is answering a shit load of questions. Simon was also instructed to restate the question since it looks better on TV if you don't hear the interviewer asking questions.

When they got to the house is when Simon really started to make fun of his fellow pilots. It was five in the morning and Simon pulled up and got the mail. "Bullshit, bills, bills, bills, cooking magazine," Simon said and held the magazine up to the camera, "Other then the fact that he likes having sex with other men, this is the biggest thing that makes Shinji Ikari gay."

Simon pulled his car into the driveway under the deck and led Joe up to the front door. He unlocked it and they entered. "Okay, so let me show you my crib," Simon introduced. "This is the kitchen. This fridge is for food, drinks, popsicles and shit like that. Now this fridge over here is where our pet penguin, Pen Pen lives as well as our live long cryogenically frozen things like Shinji's perpetual virginity."

He led Joe into the bedroom hallway. "Shinji's room is here, Sean's never used room is here, the horribly sex filled room Asuka calls home is down there, Kensuke is right here, Misato is off to the left, and I'm right here," Simon flicked on his bedroom light. "The reason there are bunk beds is because Rei and I share this room. Both our laptops are stored right on this desk. Uh, the bookcase that stretches across that wall is where our books are, mine on top hers on bottom. I read a lot of Deathlands so they're all there. It's a pretty small room, but it's ours."

He paused when he exited the room and looked directly at the camera. "Rei and I do not have anything in between us besides a general sense of pilot comradery. That's it."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Thank you so much for your support! Please enjoy!

**A State of Mercy**

**Chapter 3: In Response to Your Query…**

"The first of three targets are within range of Unit 00's sniper rifle," Hyuga reported from his console.

Misato gave him a curt nod. "Understood. Simon, you've got operational command of the combat team," Misato said into her headset.

On the surface, Greymarch leaned against an office building with a Pallet rifle clutched in its hands.

"Thank you Misato. You can go work off your hangover now. We can handle this," he told her less out of his unending need to be an ass but more out of a knowing sympathy for the hard partying that his friend had done the night before.

"I'll be fine," she replied, rubbing her head with the hand not steadying herself on the back of Hyuga's chair.

"Rei, take the shot," Simon ordered, not wasting any more time with idle chitchat and pleasantries.

Rei, who was already on the team holographic display below Shinji, nodded. From her position crouched behind Intercept's mall, Rei fired one, two, three rounds in fast succession. Simon opened up a window on his left-hand display from Unit 00's scope.

The first round ripped the Harvester's right leg off; the second moved slightly higher and tore the torso up quite a bit. The third bullet, either by accident or, knowing Rei Ayanami, by design, landed much higher up on the target. It collided with the Harvester's unarmored forehead, punched through the skin and shattered against the interior of the skull.

A moment later, the dead Harvester smacked into the intersection of tenth and main, throwing concrete into the air and shaking the ground for miles. The combat team didn't have time to celebrate, however, as the two remaining Harvesters touched down softly away from them in two opposite directions. Simon couldn't hold down a laugh as he reflexively analyzed the Harvesters' tactical situation.

"They've split themselves up. Sean and Asuka: take the western one. Shinji: come with me. Rei: sniper support," Simon spat off quickly, already moving toward the target.

Shinji followed him quickly in Unit 01, unhindered by an umbilical cord due to the S2 organ gained from eating an Angel named Zeruel. If nothing else Simon did respect Shinji as a capable, if sometimes unstable, pilot. That's not to say that he didn't have a few qualms about having a potentially team killing beast riding shotgun with him.

As they approached the Harvester, Simon slowed to a stop and took cover behind a building. Shinji did the exact same thing across the street. Both machines peered around the corner at the target. "On three," Simon told him. Suddenly, the Harvester took matters into its own hands, literally. A claw like device in its right hand activated at blew a hole in Simon's cover.

"Three!" Simon shouted, popping out from what cover was left and firing a sustained burst from his Pallet rifle.

Shinji started blasting with his own rifle and charged the enemy's position. That was the problem with Shinji Ikari: he was either too weak or too strong, with no middle ground. Simon couldn't grab him in time to pull him back to safety.

The Harvester grabbed him and latched the laser claw onto Unit 01's head. The device started to warm, signaling another shot.

"Misato! Rip the connection!" Simon shouted over the radio.

Without needing to do more than push on Maya's shoulder, Misato ordered Unit 01's synchronization circuits deactivated. Then the Harvester fired, burning a hole through Unit 01's helmet and exited out the back of the head. The purple Evangelion slumped to the ground with a massive thud. Due to the laser's automatic cauterization of the wound, no blood was leaked onto the street.

Greymarch lunged at the Harvester as it stood above Unit 01 as if momentarily dazed by the easiness of killing its foe. Simon punched the target in the face and kneed it in the ribs before jamming the barrel of his Pallet rifle into its teeth. He squeezed the trigger and shattered fangs, splintered vertebrae and sprayed blood all over the building behind his target.

The Harvester slid to the ground on top of Shinji's immobile form, dead. Simon was about to ask for a status report on Shinji when he heard Asuka scream.

Unit 02 slammed into the pavement, its energy cord severed and left hand cut cleanly off. Its pilot screamed, clutching her left wrist. The Harvester raised its right arm, which was made into a large spike, above Unit 02's head for a final killing blow. Cerebrus smashed into the Harvester before it could strike and shoved its prog sword into the target's neck.

Both of them crashed to the ground in a mass of limbs pumping into each other's bodies in the form of punches, kicks and stabs. The sword arm banged against Cerebrus' armor plating and angled off into a building, putting it right in position for a swing at Cerebrus' unprotected neck. Sean saw it on his left side display and realized that his left hand was caught underneath the Harvester's armpit and so couldn't deflect the slice should it come.

"Damn it," he muttered and braced himself for the pain.

Suddenly, Simon landed next to the sword and pinned it against the building with his foot. "Finish it!" Simon shouted over the radio.

Sean finished his prog knife cut across the throat. Tendons snapped in the Harvester's neck and blood oozed onto the sidewalk. It twitched and died in his grip. He released it and Simon took his foot off the sword arm. Sean turned on his holographic pilot monitor screen. Asuka was whimpering, Shinji was offline, Rei was showing her usual no emotion, and Simon had a huge scowl plastered on his face.

LATER THAT DAY

"That was the most horrible, crappy, shit-filled, fucked up, homosexual display of piloting I've ever seen!" Simon fumed in front of the assembled pilots. "I'm talking to you, faggot," he said pointing at Shinji. The boy was visibly shaken, with tears streaming down his cheeks and his body shaking. "What the hell were you thinking? 'Oh, I'll just charge the enemy carrying a gun that could hit me so hard my dead mother'll feel it'?"

Misato entered the room and started walking toward the front.

"Careful, he's on a rampage," Sean cautioned her from where he sat next to Asuka.

The purple-haired colonel merely grunted a response and continued forward.

"Oh, look, your replacement mommy is here to pull your ass out of the fire."

"Don't chew out my pilots! It's my job!" she shouted.

"Okay three flaws with what you said. One: you never chew out your pilots. Two: you handed over tactical command of your pilots to me due to you being drunk. And my third and final point: I was chewing out Shinji and hadn't gotten to your Nazi pilot yet."

Turning away from Misato, Simon fixed his eyes on Sean. "Kindly remove your arm from around Asuka," he said in mock politeness.

Sean pushed his glasses up further on his nose, not removing his other arm from around his lover. "Why?" he asked.

"Because my yelling doesn't take effect if you're there to comfort her," he explained.

"That's not going to happen."

"Okay, then I'll proceed anyway," Simon said, correctly judging the look in his friend's eyes as raw determination. "Asuka, when a target that has its entire right arm made into a sword it's not generally wise to step in front of that limb when its coming at you with intent of penetration. Take Shinji for an example-"

"Okay, that's it. Get the fuck out of here," Misato shouted.

"Why?"

"It's fine to chew people out, but it's not fine to use it as an excuse to continue making fun of Shinji."

"Why not?"

"Because he's sensitive!"

"That's what I'm saying: he's a faggot."

"Simon shut up!"

"I'm gone," he said and walked out of the briefing room. Misato rubbed her head. This situation didn't help her hangover one bit. She was planning on continuing the debriefing, but just didn't feel up to it.

"Dismissed," she finally grumbled. The pilots stood up and filed out of the room.

LATER ON THE COMMAND DECK

The doors opened and Simon entered the bridge. Misato, who had finally started to get her headache down to a reasonable size, turned to greet him with hardly any enthusiasm at all. "What do you want?" she managed to spit out. Simon brushed past her without replying and moved to where Ibuki was working. He spun her chair around and pulled her up out of it in one quick motion.

Then he did the last thing Misato thought the often-sarcastic ex-SEAL would ever do to anyone: he kissed her. He kissed her so intensely that it looked like a prelude to sex, right there on the command deck. She dropped her clipboard to embrace him while he supported her back with a tightly wrapped arm. People working on the deck below them were craning their necks to look up at the random showing of affection.

The entire thing lasted about twenty seconds before Simon pulled back and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and sat back down with a huge grin at her coworkers. Simon turned and looked at a completely dumbfounded Misato.

Colonel Katsuragi managed a slack jawed nod as Simon walked away. She looked to Ibuki. "So," she started, "you two are a thing?"

Ibuki nodded. "That's a word."

"Yeah, but why?"

"I hadn't thought of it," Ibuki replied.

Katsuragi nodded. "You might want to mull it over. I'd call that a bad idea."


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: We're almost a third of the way through our 15-chapter run. Hope you're all still enjoying it! Woot!

**A State of Mercy**

**Chapter 4: Chugging Time**

"WHAAT!"

Everyone in the kitchen cringed as his or her eardrums received minor permanent damage. Misato shook her head to clear the noise out of it before responding. "That's right. He and Simon left early this morning to get to the cage and prepare."

"Prepare? For what?" Asuka screamed.

"They have to do a test today that the rest of you don't have to participate in," Misato said.

"Why should they get special treatment? I'm much better than them anyway!" the hotheaded German countered.

"Okay, one: they pilot a different make of Evangelion then you do. And two: look at the damn score chart before pronouncing that you're the best." Misato indicated the board beside Pen Pen's freezer.

_SCORE CHART:_

_HARVESTERS KILLED BY PILOT_

_Aida, Kensuke 0_

_Ayanami, Rei 8_

_Kirby, Simon 19_

_Ikari, Shinji 5_

_McKay, Sean 10_

_Soryu, Asuka Langley 7_

Asuka made a pissed off noise and sat down to finish her breakfast.

AT SS

"You're an idiot," Simon stated plainly.

Sean closed his car door and turned to his friend. "That's not the most diplomatic way of starting a conversation, but, go on," he said and started walking toward the entrance to SS.

If Simon cared or was even aware of the half-assed insult he didn't show it. "Asuka is using you."

Sean barked a short laugh. "How so?" he quizzed.

"I looked up her file," Simon ignored the hostile look that Sean immediately gave him and continued with what he viewed as an intervention. "She has a reported history of coming onto her older superiors. Including: special agent Ryoji Kaji, her instructor, her second instructor after the first one commited suicide, her doctor, her abortion doctor, her mailman…"

"Okay, I get the point. Can we move on now?" Sean asked, sliding his NERV ID card into the registration slot to open the entrance door to SS.

"Sure, if you can stand it," Simon replied.

Sean thought about the statement, noticed it didn't make any sense, and chose to ignore it.

THREE O'CLOCK THAT AFTERNOON

"Yea, maybe he'll be picking her up tonight," one of the girls told another as they waited in the parking lot for their buses or car rides home. Asuka pretended to ignore them, secretly coveting their awe in her choice of boyfriend, as she watched Sean's car pull into the parking lot. He pulled up to the curb and got out to open the door for her, causing murmurs from the crowd of gathered students.

She got into the car and looked back at the group, searching for Shinji. "Shinji, would you like a ride?" she asked once she found him.

"Uh, sure Asuka," he replied sheepishly.

"Well too bad!" she shouted and hopped in the car, leaving Shinji to get laughed at by his fellow classmates.

AT THE BARBEQUE LATER THAT EVENING

"They left you to hitchhike?!" Maya said, alarmed at what she'd heard.

"Yea, well it wasn't a big deal," Shinji replied.

"No, it was a big deal!" Maya turned to Asuka. "That was such a rude thing to do! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Asuka, since Sean was out on the deck talking with Kensuke about airplanes or some shit, had no one to lean on and felt crappy about it. So, she lapsed to her last defensive option: scream in response.

"Well I'm sorry that the world's most crap-tastic Eva pilot didn't have a ride home from school! Am I just supposed to wait on him hand and foot?" Asuka continued to scream but the words went an octave above what a human ear could comprehend. Tucked inside his freezer, Pen Pen could hear the screaming in his brain.

Out on the deck that sat above the driveway, Sean and Kensuke stood leaning against the banister talking about military aircraft. "Well, the problem with the Zero was that it wouldn't turn to the right over 200 knots," Sean explained.

"I'd still take it over a P-51," Kensuke said.

"Whatever, just flip those burgers for Shinji before they burn."

With that Sean turned around and walked back in toward the kitchen. He passed the living room and stopped. Turning, he peered into the living room and saw it: an empty wine bottle with a cork inside of it. Walking over, he examined the bottle and cork and learned that there was no immediately apparent way of getting the cork out of the bottle without breaking it open.

Being a trained aerospace engineer, Sean held his problem solving skills in high regard. So he automatically decided that he would find a way to get the cork out of the bottle without breaking it. Snatching the bottle up, he walked into the kitchen to find supplies that would aid him in pulling it off. He ignored Asuka, Maya and Shinji's conversation and started digging in the drawer.

Misato entered the house with some stuff for the party in a paper bag. "Oh, Maya, is Simon here yet?" Misato asked her underling.

"No, he said he might be a little late," Maya responded.

Misato seemed to accept this and took the bag full of stuff out to the deck to set the table. "Weren't you supposed to have a date Kensuke?" she asked the spare pilot standing next to the grill.

Kensuke stared at the flickering flame in the grill for a second before responding. "She, uh, cancelled," he said after a bit.

Misato searched for the right words to say, but instead hugged the boy when none came to her mind. She held him there for a moment before letting him go and returning to the kitchen.

When she got in there she found Sean trying to coax a napkin though the bottle's neck and around the cork to hoist the small wooden stopper out of its prison. "I'm afraid to ask, but what are you doing?" she asked him.

"Getting this cork out of the bottle," he replied, not taking his vision off the task at hand.

"No fuck. Why don't you just smash it?"

Sean looked up and glared at her as if she'd just suggested the most evil thing possible. "Sorry I asked," she said, putting her arms up in the air in mock surrender. Sean didn't respond and returned to his self appointed task.

"Maya, can I ask you a question?" Shinji asked quietly of the woman sitting next to him. "Sure," she smiled at him in an almost motherly fashion that made him feel useful.

"How are you both nice to me, yet attracted to Simon?" he asked.

Maya didn't even hesitate before answering. "Because someone has to be the nice counterweight to Simon's bullshit. I'm that counter weight."

"I'm glad for that Maya," Shinji responded. She smiled again and hugged him.

Asuka sighed and looked out down the hallway towards the deck and driveway. She caught Simon's Delorian pulling into the driveway. "Well speak of the mother fucking devil," she muttered and got up from the table. As the Delorian's driver side door opened, the Black Sabbath song _War Pigs_ bombarded the neighborhood at full blast.

"_Generals gathered in their masses! Just like witches at witches at black masses! Evil minds that plot destruction! Sorcerer of death's construction! In the fields the bodies burning! As the war machine keeps turning!" _blared Ozzy Ozbourne's voice out of the stereo. By the time the main riff had started, Simon was out of the car and on top of the car, playing an air guitar.

"_In the darkness world stops turning! Ashes where the bodies burning! War pigs no longer have the power! Begging masses for the sins! Satan laughs and spreads his wings!" _

After finishing the song with a giant flying jump from the top of the car, Simon turned off the stereo, closed and locked his car and walked up into the house. The first thing he did once inside was smack Shinji in the back of the head, ignoring the look it garnered from Maya. He opened up a beer and looked over at what Sean was doing.

"Why don't you just smash it open?" he asked.

"Because then I wouldn't be solving the problem intellectually," Sean responded.

"At least you wouldn't look like a fuck-head on LSD," came Simon's response in less than a thought cycle. He pointed to Rei who was walking by the radio. "Rei, turn on CD-3 please," he said.

Without a word, Rei turned on the requested CD. Bobby Darrin's _Beyond the Sea_ started softly rolling around the house, a sharp contrast to the rock-fest that had been put on out in the driveway. Simon tapped Sean on the back. "Dance," he said, then added, "With Asuka, or Shinji if you're confused."

Sean decided he could put the bottle aside for a second and dance.

Simon smoothly wrapped his arm around Ibuki's waist and started swaying back and forth with her. When Ibuki was turned back to Rei and Simon could see her he gave hand signals to his roommate. He pointed at Shinji and interlaced his fingers. Rei nodded and walked over to Shinji. Simon spun so Ibuki could see the two pilots.

Rei whispered in Shinji's ear and in less than a second he was at attention on what was being used as the dance floor. The two started slowly dancing and seemed to be very good at it. Asuka made a pissy noise at the sight and pulled Sean into dancing better, not about to be out done by a wimp and Wonder Girl. Maya laughed and laid her head on Simon's shoulder, enjoying the moment to the fullest.

Out on the balcony, Kensuke sat next to the grill, depressed about his lack of a dance partner. Misato sat down next to him. She waited a second, then asked him "You want to dance?"

"You sure?" he replied.

"Yea, just don't try and get me into bed, alright?" she joked, glad seeing his freckled cheeks blush a little.

BALCONY

An hour later, Misato was asleep, as was Kensuke, Rei, and Shinji. Asuka and Sean had lasted longer until a scream in German and a loud thump against the wall signaled that they'd probably called it a night. Simon and Maya sat on the deck together in a swing and stared up at the night sky. Intercept was a surprisingly clean town and the sky was clear enough to spot stars.

With Maya snuggled up against him asleep, Simon felt more than knew that he wouldn't have any nightmares tonight. He lay awake staring at the sky until sleep finally took hold and he slipped into darkness. In the house, the radio finally turned off on its own.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Please review-I want to improve where possible!

**A State of Mercy**

**Chapter 5: Two Harvesters and a Funeral**

NEW YORKISH AREA

Steam rushed out of the door as it opened, rolling over the assembled Delta Team members standing in the alleyway. "Where the hell are we, _Alien_?" joked the team's weapons specialist. The joke got a nervous laugh out of most of the team.

"Shut the fuck up and do your job!" barked the team's leader. The squad answered by entering the facility.

The entry hallway had no lighting, the bulbs wearing out over the time since the mid-nineties when they were last changed. The team member bringing up the rear closed the airlock and then followed his teammates. On point was Private Dick Velzinia, the son of Jewish-Americans. Dick looked around in his night-vision goggles and saw nothing but what would have been sterile hallways had they been cleaned lately.

The only sound came from the Delta's booted feet as they descended ramps farther into the abandoned facility. No words were spoken until they were roughly four hundred feet underground and getting on the main elevator.

"Where's Perkins?' asked the team leader in a whisper. Dick had already punched the descent button so there was no looking for Perkins at this point.

"Perki-" said the leader before letting out a muffled grunt. Dick whirled around just in time to see the leader being pulled up into the ceiling, off the lift.

"What the fuck!?" shouted Private Smith, who'd made the joke on the surface. Smith started firing his silenced M8 at a point on the ceiling outside Dick's view.

The weapon had a flash suppressor, but it still brightened up the area in Dick's goggles. Behind Smith loomed a, well, a something with teeth. "Smith! Move!" Dick shouted, bringing his rifle up into position. With a shriek, the thing knocked Smith out of the way with a mere bat of its arm and smacked into Dick in the form of a tackle.

The two fell off the lift and down the shaft. As they reached the bottom, Dick saw a blinding blue light that cut through his night vision. It was his objective, and now he wouldn't be able to get to it. The creature sunk its teeth into his neck and Dick slipped into death.

SS/NERV TRAINING DECK, SUBMERGED IN A COMMUNAL SYNCHRONIZATION GESTALT

The sunlight reflected off Unit 01's deep purple armor, creating a feeling of majesty and wonder. That is, until a large foam version of a Heavy Sword smacked into it and sent it toppling onto a concrete barrier. Now Unit 01 created a feeling of crappy worthlessness, which is also how its pilot felt. Greymarch reached down and grabbed it around the throat and picked it up.

"Is that it?" Simon asked over the radio.

"Yea," Shinji muttered in response.

"Pathetic," Simon scoffed and hurled the other Evangelion onto the street.

"Damnit Simon! This is an exercise!" Misato shouted.

"So you're saying that a Harvester would wait for him to hit first?" Simon said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

Misato turned off her headset and turned to Hyuga. "If that's how he wants to play it, then send in Asuka."

"Yes ma'am."

Unit 02, who'd been standing aside before, lunged into combat with a foam prog knife. Simon sidestepped her charge and swept her legs out from under her with the Heavy Sword. Unit 02 landed on top of Unit 01, its pilot cursing in German. Simon drew his Handgun to put a paint round in the back of her head when a threat alarm went off in the plug.

Greymarch whirled around and caught a thrown Heavy Sword from Cerebrus in the arm. "Fuck!" Simon screamed and fired a series of shots at his fellow Wolf. To his credit, Sean dodged most of the shots except for the first one, which smacked into his shoulder. Simon flared his jumpjets and landed on top of the building Sean was hiding behind.

Three shots splattered across the top of Cerebrus' helmet. Simon spotted Unit 00 moving toward him with a Heavy Sword. He ignored Cerebrus' thrashing about in pain and lunged at Rei, who blocked his thrust with her own Heavy Sword. Simon tossed his pistol to the side to get more power behind his sword. The two weapons smacked against each other and wobbled backward.

Simon flared his jumpjets again and smashed into Unit 00 when she was recovering from the sword collision. The two monsters tumbled to the ground. Simon engaged his shoulder pylon's spikes and shot Unit 00 in the face. He pulled back off her and jammed his Heavy Sword into stomach, or would have if it weren't made of foam.

He stood up straight and looked at Misato over the holo-screen. "Would you like to swap Asuka for Kensuke and see if he can do anything?" he asked her, a smart-assed smile on his face, "Otherwise I'm done for today."

Misato nodded and turned to Hyuga. "Discontinue the simulation," she ordered, defeated.

Inside the plug, the buildings, weapons, cars, barriers, and even the other Evas disappeared leaving a blank white screen. The plug opened up and Simon got out, jogged down the ladder rungs running from Greymarch's upper left shoulder down to its chest and out onto the umbilical bridge.

He managed to not double over when puking up the LCL on the ground. Once finished, he turned to see Asuka, Sean, Shinji and Maya scowling at him. "Whatever," he said and pushed passed them to change out of his plug suit. Ibuki turned and followed him. Once they were alone, she swung her hand out to smack him, but in one deft motion, he caught her wrist and pulled her into him.

"Don't do that. You might end up regretting it," he said. She started to respond but was cut off by him kissing her. He shot Joe the Camera Man a look while he was kissing her that said 'put this on TV'.

LATER ON THAT DAY

Simon sat his coffee down and looked across at the man he was sitting with in the coffee shop. "What do you mean 'they disappeared'?" he asked.

"They went in and didn't come back out," the man explained.

"Listen, we need that subject. Otherwise, Greymarch will continue to be _just_ a normal Evangelion. And _you_ won't get what you want either."

"I'm pushing as hard as possible. It gets harder without a NERV ID card."

Simon laughed. "We'll change that too, if you get the job done."

AT THE END OF THE DAY

Shinji yanked back and forth on his penis at the sound of Asuka panting 'harder! Harder!' through the wall. He spewed semen all over his bed and fell backward breathing hard and feeling lightheaded. He opened his eyes after a moment and stared at the ceiling. "I'm so fucked up," he muttered, still holding his softening penis.

Simon opened the door and recoiled at what he saw. "What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled at the younger pilot.

Shinji jumped up and stuffed his dick back in his pants. "I'm sorry! I didn't know that-"

"That I might not like a child jerking off in my bed? Get the fuck out of here!" Simon said, reaching for the S&W 5000 he had in his bed stand drawer. Shinji darted out of the room with his shorts halfway up. Simon debated shooting him, but in the end decided not to.

If it happened again though, he would.

NEW YORK, THE NEXT DAY

"Uh, sir, can we really do this?" asked one of sixty-five Delta Force troops. The man turned and looked at him.

"Yes. If we don't, humanity will have no other options," he calmly stated. The Delta Commander nodded and looked at the guy stationed by the airlock. "Pop the seal!" he shouted.

The trooper hit the code and steam rushed out of the opening airlock…


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: This chapter has some new developments and a mystery! Hope you like it!

**A State of Mercy**

**Chapter 6: Pull Pin, Throw**

INTERCEPT CITY

"Okay, so I want to try something new today," Simon stated over the radio and waited for someone to respond.

"What is it?" replied Rei.

"Well, I've implemented a context sensitive stereo system in the radios. When combat starts, the system selects appropriate music to play. This should get us to harmonize better in combat."

Sean was the one who spoke up first. "That is the dumbest fuckin' thing I've heard all day."

"I'll translate that as a 'Simon, I'm right behind you!'."

"Whatever."

Four Harvesters smashed down together three blocks ahead of the five assembled Evangelions. It was then that Simon's context sensitive stereo kicked in and sent the song _Surfin' Bird_ blaring out over the radio.

Simon's head unconsciously started bobbing with the music as he issued rapid-fire orders. "Asuka, Rei, provide covering fire. Shinji, jump down their throats from the front. Sean, follow me in an air borne attack."

They all responded with a variation of 'roger that' and the counter attack got under way. Both Greymarch and Cerebrus took to the skies and angled toward the Harvesters. Simon highlighted one for him and one for Sean then spotted one of them sprinting around to get into position alongside Units 00 and 02. Simon highlighted it and sent the order to Rei.

Unit 00 pivoted on its right heel and squeezed off a round from its sniper rifle. The bullet sunk into the Harvester's head and tossed it sideways into a building, its rifle-denting pavement as it touched down.

Meanwhile, Greymarch and Cerebrus landed near their respective targets. Simon got his target in a chokehold with both hands and wrenched its neck out of alignment. He tossed the body into the next target and spun to see Sean finish slicing his target in half with a Heavy Sword. Unit 01 dashed between the two Wolves and collided with the only remaining Harvester.

Shinji yelled and started stabbing the target over and over again with his prog knife until its face was so mutilated it made Maya turn off her monitor back in the command center to prevent herself from vomiting. Simon stood and watched the younger pilot continue to stab the obviously dead target for at least ten seconds before saying something.

"Calm the fuck down, faggot!" Simon shouted over the radio. Unit 01 whirled on him and thrusted with the prog knife at Greymarch's throat. Then just before the knife made contact, he stopped. Simon turned down the music playing over the stereo and heard Shinji crying inside the plug. "Misato, if you'd like to, pull the connection and I'll carry him to the retrieval point," Simon offered.

THE HOUSE, LATER ON

A pencil scrapped against the scoreboard as Misato changed Simon, Rei, Sean and Shinji's scores to accommodate today's combat. The scoreboard now read:

Aida, Kensuke 0

Ayanami, Rei 9

Kirby, Simon 19

Ikari, Shinji 6

McKay, Sean 11

Soryu, Asuka Langley 7

Misato prayed that Shinji wouldn't get another kill before Asuka. She was depressed enough at today's loss, much less so then if that were to happen. Sean entered the room and stopped near Misato, peering at the scoreboard.

"Eleven kills, Sean. That's pretty good," she told him. He mearly nodded in response.

They stood in silence for a second before Misato finally asked him the obvious question. "How is she?" she asked, voice slightly lower then before.

"She's depressed," he replied absentmindedly.

"How depressed?" she pressed.

"Like, she won't be going to school tomorrow, depressed."

"I see," she said.

Silence returned between the two people for what seemed like an eternity before Sean found an excuses, albeit a weak one, to get out. "Uh, I've got to go lace my shoes," he said.

"Okay, good luck," Misato was eager to escape the awkward situation.

In the living room, Shinji was laying on the couch reverting back into a meaningless existence that he'd seemed to escape the last few weeks. He thought it might be good to not return, but he didn't really care. Mentally, he ticked off the facts in his mind as to why it would be useless to try:

His father hated him

He had no mother

She'd probably hate him too

No one liked him

He had no girlfr-

He stopped at the thought of having no girlfriend. That could be worth trying to live for. The possibility of having what Sean and Simon had with Asuka and Maya respectively, appealed to him. But who? Rei had danced with him about a week ago, but that was a one-time thing, wasn't it? Shinji decided he needed to think on this some more before doing anything.

Then the phone rang. Shinji slowly sat up and grabbed the phone off of the coffee table. He hit the talk button and held it to his ear. "Hello?" he answered.

"Is Simon there?" he voice was blunt, to the point, and masked against identification. Shinji decided it wouldn't be wise to keep this voice waiting, so he answered equally to the point.

"He's not here."

"Shinji?" though masked, the tone of surprise still carried through.

"Yes," Shinji's own reply was in a surprised tone as well. "Where did he go?" the other voice seemed eager to move on.

"Uh, I think he went over to Miss. Maya's house," Shinji said. The line went dead without a good bye or anything. Shinji shrugged and hung up the phone.

IBUKI RESIDENCE

The phone rang and Simon paused the movie to allow Maya to answer it. "Hello?" she asked, then handed it to Simon, "It's for you."

Simon put the phone to his ear. "Yea? No, just watching _Assault on Precinct 13_. No the old one. What'd you need? Good, good. So that's being transported here now?" while Simon talked, Maya mouthed 'who is it?' at him. He mouthed back the answer and kept talking. "Any losses? Twelve. That's all right I suppose. Deepened? It may have. Okay, bye."

Simon hung up the phone and gave it to Maya. She put it back on the hook and Simon resumed the movie. Maya snuggled up against him and he put his arm around her. They sat like that for the remainder of the movie.

THE NEXT DAY, UNIT 01'S CAGE

Unit 01 was raised to the point where the umbilical bridge was in line with its core, now exposed since the staff had removed that section of armor and skin. The core was left shining in the fluorescent lighting of the cage. The scientific team, under the direction of Maya, had attached a series of cables and wires to the core that were transmitting data to a bank of monitors.

Since Dr. Akagi went into prison for destroying the Rei dummy plug system, Maya had been slowly gaining control over the science division and leaving more and more of her normal duties to her own hand-picked assistant. The right-side door opened and Misato stormed into the room, her black exec officer jacket unbuttoned as usual.

Maya smiled at her warmly, though it was obvious the colonel was pissed. "Good morning ma'am," Maya said.

"Don't play bullshit with me. What are you doing with Unit 01? And don't tell me some shit about a new kind of test. Tampering with the core is completely out of line!" Misato screamed. It was then that she read some of the labels on the monitors.

Stability monitor, master fusion monitor, thermal pattern monitor, heartbeat monitor, and S2 monitor were all she could read before Maya responded. "But we are running a new kind of test. One that could help us to outfit all the Evas with S2 organs," Maya said innocently.

"Oh yea, and just who the hell gave you authorization to do that?"

"No one," sounded a voice from behind her.

Misato spun to see Simon in a plug suit, his hand hovering uncomfortably close to the water proofed M1911 strapped to his thigh. A slight grin was on his face that Misato could've sworn belonged on someone else's face. "It might be a good idea for you to leave, colonel," Simon hinted at the Colt.

Misato inhaled sharply and walked passed Simon toward the door. "We'll talk about this later."

"I look forward to it."

As she left the cage, Misato had to move out of the way of a team of scientists that were wheeling what looked like a modified cryo-tube into where Unit 01 was being operated on. As the door slid shut, Misato could see Simon kiss Maya and climb up the ladder toward Unit 01's entry plug.

"What the hell is going on in there?!" Misato screamed and punched the wall.


End file.
